Shopping, wine and a spectacular show in Melbourne

I'm always up for a weekend to Melbourne so when my mum suggested we go over to see the musical King Kong playing at Regent Theatre it was an easy answer. We booked a four night trip and the musical was well worth it! The effects of the 20ft gorilla were spectacular.

The stunning Regent Theatre

And what would a trip to Melbourne be without food, footy and fashion! We made sure we made it to some of Melbourne's iconic eateries including Movido, Il Baccaro, Hopetoun Tea Rooms and Brunetti. We watched a Friday night AFL blockbuster at Ethiad Stadium and we shopped our way through the city and Chadstone shopping centre.

Our choice at Hopetoun Tea Rooms

Friday night footy at Ethiad Stadium

Shopping day at Chadstone

We spent our last day on a wine tour to the Yarra Valley with Yarra Valley Wine Tasting Tours. It was the first time I had been to the Yarra Valley and I strongly recommend the tour if you're going to do it. There was plenty of wine, food, great scenery and it was just an all round great day! We visited four wineries including Yering Station, St Huberts, Domain Chandon and Rochford Wines where we enjoyed lunch. We also visited White Rabbit Brewery, Yarra Valley Dairy and Yarrah Valley Chocolaterie.

First stop - Yering Station

The beautiful scenery at Domain Chandon

It was a pleasure Melbourne... as always see you again soon!

South bound for a relaxing long weekend

With a Friday public holiday, what better way to spend the long weekend than a three day trip down south to Pullman Resort Bunker Bay! On my to do list for a while, it seemed like the perfect occasion for it and a much needed break.

My boy and I headed down on ANZAC Day and stopped by the Busselton Jetty on the way - a 1.8km jetty across Geographe Bay. We enjoyed the view as we wandered down the jetty to the Underwater Observatory and back again, stopping for a bite to eat on the foreshore before continuing on to Bunker Bay.

Busselton Jetty

When we arrived at the resort I automatically felt a sense of relief that I was going to spend the next three days away for the busy-ness of city life. The resort was full of couples and young families doing the same thing.

Poolside at Pullman Resort Bunker Bay

We spent our mini brief enjoying the world-class wineries of Margaret River, finding our way through The Maze in Yallingup, participating in the resort's complimentary pilates and yoga, getting massages, playing giant Jenga and Connect 4, enjoying local food especially the breakfast buffet, watching movies, reading, walking along the beach and admiring the view.

The view from the resort overlooking the ocean

The Maze

Bunker Bay

It was absolute bliss, can't wait to return!

Sliding through Japan

In January we spent 10 days in Japan where we explored a mix of culture, history, food, shopping and skiing. It was nice to escape the steaming hot Perth summer in place of Japan's cool winter and of course SNOW! We visited Osaka, Kyoto, Hakuba and Tokyo - all of which had something different to offer.

Shibuya Tokyo

In Osaka, we visited Osaka Castle and enjoyed department store shopping. In Kyoto, which was the original capital city of Japan, we explored Nijo Castle, The Golden Pavilion, shrines, temples, samurais and more. In Hakuba we skied and snowboarded for the first time. And in Tokyo we made the most of the winter sales, went to a sumo wrestling match (must do), spent an afternoon at Disneyland, visited Tsukiji fish market and more.

Osaka Castle

Sumo wrestling at Ryogoku

The snow and skiing/snowboarding in Hakuba was the main reason for this trip and was definitely a highlight. I skied and my boyfriend snowboarded and we spent two full days trying to master the sport. On the first day we both had beginner lessons in the morning. I must admit there were a few slippery moments where I almost ended up in the cafe, and on another occasion, taking out the board racks. By the end of my first lesson I could turn left and right and stop with my snow plow (when I didn't get scared and lose control).

At the end of the lesson I convinced my boyfriend we could take the chair lift up the small mountain behind my lesson and we would be experienced enough to ride down it. Sure enough he went down no problems at all, whereas I totally stacked it and gave up around 20m down. After being told I couldn't take the chair lift back down, my boyfriend walked me down to the bottom of the mountain - what a relief! After lunch I decided another lesson was a must for me so I could at least conquer one mountain and booked in for beginner novice the next morning.

The mountain I didn't make it down

Day two was a little more successful but I was still hopeless for the majority of it. We were separated into different groups of beginner novice standard and of course I was in the bottom group. Our instructor definitely had a lot of patience to handle the four ladies he was left with. Throughout the 2.5hour lesson we only made it down the mountain about four times as we were just so slow! By this stage I was too scared of not being able to stop so my snow plow was not going anywhere which meant I was so slow I almost wasn't moving! I finally gave way a little and by the end of the lesson I managed to do a run with my boyfriend, who had spent the morning practicing on a few different mountains.

Me after skiing the mountain

I really did love Japan's soft white powder snow! It was the perfect cushion every time I fell over, made amazing snow angels and made it so easy to build my snowman Bob. I definitely wished we had more time in Hakuba to perfect my skiing and experience other things like the snow monkeys and snowmobiles. One highly recommended thing to try when you are on ski trip to Japan is an onsen - Japanese hot baths - as it's the perfect recovery after a long day of skiing/snowboarding.

My snow angel :)

Our snowman Bob

I really enjoyed this trip to Japan. The Japanese people are some of the nicest people I have met and the food was delicious! Must try is the Ninja Restaurant in Tokyo. Can't wait to go back one day! <3

Lobster @ Ninja Restaurant

New year adventure

I've never been a camper so when I was sent a Facebook invite by my cousin to go camping for New Year's it was at the bottom of my list. As the days went on the idea warmed to me and I found myself camping on Ledge Point beach, approximately an hour an a half drive from Perth, on New Year's Eve.

We left home around midday on what was a 42 degree day in Perth in a non-airconditioned 4WD, and we arrived around 2pm after a lunch stop on the way. We got there just as the sea breeze settled in so it was nice and refreshing. Beneath us was soft white sand and in front of us crystal clear ocean.

New Year's camping at Ledge Point

There was a group of around 20 of us mostly consisting of cousins and their friends. We set up our sleeping arrangements (mine being in the back of the 4WD) and then cooled down in the beautiful water with my new giant thong bed - we all had a blast riding the waves with it.

Most of the afternoon was spent swimming, kicking the footy, playing with the dogs, eating and fishing. For dinner there was BBQ, salad and 3kg of pasta!! Only Italians would cook pasta camping. After dinner there were drinking games, cards and more chatter with the New Year being brought in with music, sparklers, party poppers and glow sticks.

Happy New Year

The next morning as the sun rose, people started getting up. After a bacon and egg breakfast roll I took a final dip in the water before we packed up and made our journey home to start a fresh year.

So what did I think of my first camping experience since high school? It wasn't too bad and I actually had fun!